"My first toys were cars. The only other person in my family that liked cars was my dad, T. K. VanNortwick. He liked sports cars; I liked hot rods and customs. Dad was a professional artist and art teacher. His main work involved oil paintings of western landscapes.

I never painted a lick while he was alive, he died in 1977. In 1980 I started pin-striping rods and bikes around Roanoke, VA. Then in 1988 I was the victim of a hit and run. The wreck messed up my back and I was in constant pain, so I had to cut back on the pin-striping. In 1989 I bought a beginners set of oil paints and did a painting. It wasn't too bad so I did another one, it was better than the first so I figured I was on a roll.

In the early 1990's I went blind in my right eye due to macular degeneration and for several months I didn't paint. After 5 or 6 months I just didn't notice it anymore, and I resumed my work.

Most of my paintings are of automotive subjects. My major influence of course is Dad, but I also like Edward Hopper, Kent Bash, Tom Fritz, and others." - Tom VanNortwick

Tom VanNortwick is a restless soul. He has been a parking lot attendant, tombstone setter, rock drummer, tour bus driver and a record-setting hot rodder. Yet his paintings have an incredible stillness to them, as if you´re looking at something very important, something you should tuck away into your memory forever. After barely surviving a hit and run accident, Tom bought a beginner's set of oil paints in 1988, to create his first painting. Since then, he has completed over 120, all of them striking. His work is included in the art collections of legendary hot rodder Gene Winfield, French Grimes, one of the bearded guys in ZZ Top, and the Chicago Bears, among others.